the place where I talk about the nail and beauty products I love

Collection – an affordable brand!

I have something a bit different for you today – I’m sharing my most recent makeup haul from the Collection range. I purchased all these items from Boots in store when they were all in the ‘under £4’ offer, which to me is a good price to pay – I’m all about affordability. I’ve never been one to splash out on products, I’m too stingy. Anyway, I already own a few products from them that I love, which convinced me to grab a few more items. Does anyone else remember when this was branded under the name Collection 2000? Reminds me of my teenage years so much! Anyway let’s jump in – this is might be a bit lengthy!

Primed & Ready – powered by Witch mattifying pore minimiser.

So although I don’t use a liquid foundation daily I do apply concealer and powder and I have recently found that by using a primer underneath helps to reduce my pores and shininess without having to wear a full face of foundation, which is not my favourite thing to do. I really like this one as it applies so smoothly and feels silky and lightweight on my skin but stills helps to mattify. I also find it helps the longevity of my face makeup which is good because I don’t really have time to top up during the day! I think it’s great that it contains Witch Hazel as this helps prevent the spreading of spots as it’s antibacterial; spots are something I have a problem with and I’m trying to combat… You can also get the primed & ready in The only issue I have is that it doesn’t contain more product, it’s only 25ml, but saying that it’s so affordable so I won’t feel guilty purchasing another, like I said Boots often have all the Collection products under £4 – RRP £4.99. To add to this I prefer this to the Rimmel Stay Matte Primer, I think this is because it feels lighter on my skin, I don’t like heavy makeup.

Lasting Perfection – ultimate wear foundation and powder.

For the days when I feel I need a bit more coverage I picked up the Lasting Perfection ultimate wear foundation, and for daily use the Lasting Perfection ultimate wear powder. Both products claim to be up to 16 hour wear and since I have nothing but praise for the concealer (in the shade fair) from the same range I thought I would give these 2 a go.

I picked up the Lasting Perfection Foundation in the palest shade of the 6 available, of course, which is Porcelain, which may just about be pale enough for me! I previously tried the Naturally Matte Foundation in the same shade and it was a bit too orange toned for me but this one is much better, once blended out. Looking up the price online I discovered that this is a ‘6-in-1’ foundation that primes, conceals, covers, smoothes, protects and mattifies and has flawless coverage. Personally I found that it had a light-medium coverage that doesn’t cake (if you’re careful), which you can build up if you prefer, but I like the lighter coverage so this foundation works well for me. It’s also matte, but it doesn’t dry the skin out despite it being oil free, again great because I’m not a hug fan of the dewy look (to me I feel like I look sweaty but on others it looks great)! I haven’t really tested the 16 hour wear yet, I’m not sure my makeup stays on my face that long before I take it off but paired with the concealer I find that it will happily last a night or meal out – just about the only times I like a little more coverage. Oh, it also has SPF 20! I like to wear SPF on my face everyday to help protect it. 30ml will only set you back £5.99 and the amount I use will last me a long time.

My daily makeup routine includes a powder just to make me feel like I have a touch more colour to my face. Although this looks a bit dark for my skin, it’s the palest shade of the 3 in Fair, it applies perfectly once all blended out – I use a brush rather than the sponge as I feel the latter takes off the makeup I have applied before the powder. I like the fact the packaging contains a mirror so if you do need to top up throughout the day you can take this with you, which is when the sponge might come in handy for some people – no need to carry a brush! I also like to apply this on top of my foundation to help ‘set it’ and it seems to work I guess – I’m no makeup expert! 15g for £4.19.

Contour Kit – highlight & sculpt.

I’ve wanted to try contouring for ages but once again my pale skin was making it difficult. This is perfect for me! As you can see from the pictures the contouring powder isn’t very dark (they only do one kit colour at the moment) with quite a cool tone to it and can easily be built up if you desired a darker look but I like the fact it’s subtle. The highlighter is of a silver-pink shimmer in a cream base but it is also on the subtle side as it has the perfect amount of shimmer for me, which goes with the whole dewy skin issue I have so I actually love this product. I had a highlighter/contour set before from Makeup Revolution which was just too shimmery for me, even the contour was shimmery (the Collection one is matte I believe – or near enough) and so I ended up shoving it in a drawer and not using it – this however is a product I can see myself using. Both the powders are pretty creamy, smooth and easy to pick up. It’s quite a decent sized palette too without being too large and has 10g of product. It’s currently on offer in Boots for £2.99 RRP £4.19.

Eyebrow Kit – blonde.

Eyebrows are another part of my daily routine because they’re so DAMN LIGHT. I really need to invest in tinting them because they don’t exist if I don’t colour them in but for now I choose powder. They make these kits in 2 shades – blonde and brunette, each coming with 3 shades and a clear gel with a mascara style wand used to set the brows, oh and a little brush that has both a round and angled end. Obviously I chose blonde even though the darkest shade isn’t something I wouldn’t wear alone. I guess I need to opt for a solo eyebrow product if I’m going to complain about the dark shades but I won’t because I find that having different shades helps achieve the desired colour and look much more easily. I do however use the dark shade and blend it with the middle colour for nights out when I want something a little more dramatic. I use the lightest and middle shades on a daily basis for a more natural look. I don’t use the clear gel everyday, just when I want a little more staying power or when my brows are being a bit unruly but when I have used it I find the brush is a little scratchy and I find it hard to catch the hairs with it. I think it would have been better with a traditional, non-plastic applicator, personally. Other than that I think this is great product considering, The powders are 1g each and the clear gel is 2ml and this little kit will only set you back £2.99 in Boots at the moment RRP £3.99.

And here’s my face! I’m wearing theSuperdrug all of the above products on my face, including the briefly mentioned concealer which I used to cover my dark circles and blemishes. I love the contour, I mean I’m no makeup artist or expert but I think it just adds the bit of colour to my deathly skin tone. Also, eyebrows, You can see them! I hope you enjoyed this review of Collection, I’ve tried to cover all bases and I’ve linked to the products as much as I could (mostly to Boots as they have offers on at the moment, but you can also find them in Superdrug!) and I apologise if it’s a bit wordy for you – but overall gist is that you can’t knock it for the price! I actually think they’re all great.

[…] an example of why you shouldn’t buy foundation online without swatching it first. I own the Collection Lasting Perfection foundation in the same colour Porcelain and it’s only a tiny bit too dark for my skin – […]